after almost 15yrs my plex server is no more. jellyfin behind nginx with authentik is running very nicely.
I want to leave too, but I really like PlexAmp for my music streaming. And no, Finamp doesn’t work nearly as well or look as nice.
I’ve been using jellyfin for years.
My best recommendation is DELAY UPDATES and back up before you update.
I have a history of updates breaking everything so you should be careful about them.
All software recommends backing up before an update, but for jellyfin the shit is real, you really want to back up.
laughs in immich
Like the version or the media?
the config and databases or the media, you mean?
if so, the former, but I mount the meadia with a read only docker volume just to be sure, because chances are I would never notice it
I have it on docker with two volumes, ./config and ./cache
I back up those before each update.
A bad Jellyfin update should not mess with your media folder in anyway. Though you should have backups of those aswell as a rule of thumb.
I’ve been using jelly since just after the emby fork and never had an update issue on docker. Automatic snapshots every 5 mins (amount other backup tools) and means I don’t need to everything much if it does.
Jellyfin still so buggy though. The UI is garbage too. I want to love it… I run both lol.
Unrelated but why a full VM for Linux stuff, lxc is much more efficient
Stronger compartmentalization
honestly every explanation probably just ends at ‘this is what i learned on and it works’. same way i religiously use nano and try to do everything in bash first. or how a couple coworkers can’t stop explaining their vim workflow and defending python unprompted like it’s a trauma response for them. my current homelab is also running a r9 with 64gb ram and 30tb storage. if i were paying for remote hosting, still using salvaged hardware or being paid, i’d invest time learning newer processes. but containers haven’t caught my interested and this set up takes basically no effort on my part to maintain, so i can focus my limited free time elsewhere.
honestly every explanation probably just ends at ‘this is what i learned on and it works’.
Yeah, lots of these answers basically boil down to “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Same.
The time it takes me to write a single function in Python is the same as writing a whole Bash-script using nano.
Also I initially set up my homelab using Docker in a VM on Proxmox. Totally useless abstraction, but I never found the time and patience to migrate the VM to bare metal.
This is probably the wrong post to ask this question, so sorry in advance.
I have a dual boot Linux + Windows. Jellyfin runs wonderfully on muy Linux partition with docker-compose. Anybody knows how can I clone it in my Windows partition, such that configs, metada and accounts remain the same? I’ve failed to do this, and only the media volume remaines identical on both OS.
This may not be the answer you are looking for, but one method would be to use WSL on windows to run a Linux distro with Docker installed and just migrate everything over, basically 1-to-1. Then set WSL to auto start when you boot up windows. If you install Docker Desktop on Windows, it will also pick up that you’re using Docket via WSL and allow you to manage shit from the client. I don’t do that though, I’m
a masochistold-school.Looks like there is a config and cache location in their docker scripts. The easiest way to make a docker application portable is to bind mount the config and cache. That way you have access to the actual files and could copy them to your windows partition.
If you’re already using a volume for that data, I think it becomes a bit trickier. I know technically you can move or copy volumes, but I’ve never tried. Although you could still bind mount a random directory and still copy the files out.
I’ve heard jellyfin has a lot of security issues, which I don’t know if that’s accurate or not. But the BIGGEST issue is lack of a proper tvOS app. I really don’t feel like using Infuse or some other app just to use my library. Year after year I hear about people switching and yet, the gap is simply still there.
Yeah, Samsung TVs don’t have a native Jellyfin app either. You can sideload it, but good luck walking your “you touched my computer six months ago and now it’s broken. This is your fault” grandmother through that over the phone.
To be fair there is a tvOS app in development but progress is slow because the whole project is maintained by a small handful of volunteers. They’ve put out a call for help and the maintainers post updates here
I just validated that the latest version of the LDAP privilege escalation issue is not an issue anymore. The
curl
script is in the ticket.This was the one where a standard user could get plugin credentials, such as the LDAP bind user, and change the LDAP endpoint. I.E., bad.
I chose this one because after going through all of them, it was the only one that allowed access to something that wasn’t just data in Jellyfin.
So for me, security is less of an issue knowing that, as only family use the service, and the remaining issues all require a logged in user (hit admin endpoint with user token).
Plus, I tried a few of those and they were also fixed, just not documented yet. I didn’t add to those tickets because I was not as formal with my testing.
I’ve heard jellyfin has a lot of security issues
The biggest known stuff I saw on their GitHub is that a number of the exposed service URLs under the hood don’t require auth. So, it’s open-source with known requirements, you can tell easily from the outside that it’s running, and you can cause it to activate a LOT of packages without logging in. That’s a zero-day in any package that can be passed a payload away from disaster.
AS far as TVOS, I’m kinda surprised swiftfin doesn’t service you.
Assuming this is all true, sure its not great but how much does it matter?
Most have jellyfin in a docker. My jellyfin can’t only has read only accses to the media folder. Only the config folder has write access. Assuming the worst case scenario here, how much damage can than do?
I am also not up to date on Jellyfin security issues but the biggest one I care about is that its clients don’t support OIDC. There’s a neat plugin for OIDC, but without client support it only works with the web client and I’m not a fan of leaving login pages open to the internet.
Use an LDAP to OIDC bridge?
if you use the oidc connection and apps that support quick connect you can do it. you basically end up doing things like the plex link process that got implemented when they forced everyone into their authentication service. i almost went that route but opted to leave the password auth from ldap in. its the kind of log in process most people are used too and i’ve got a few elderly users. i disabled password reset in authentik though and everyone gets a 3 word 24 char minimum password.
Op already said they were behind authentik
There also absolutely are apps for tv oses like Android, I use one daily.
I think they meant Apple’s “tvOS” - which powers the Apple TV set top box.
There’s no client for it, if I had to take a guess it’s likely due to the costs of doing so.Edit: Whoops, it appears I’m a bit out of date on this.
https://github.com/jellyfin/Swiftfin i’ve got 5 apple tv users, two android tv and one webostv
Oh interesting, it’s been a while since I have tried to use Apple TV (roughly 7 years or so - I don’t use any Apple devices anymore), this wasn’t available at the time so I’m glad to see there’s finally some native support.
there’s been a LOT of progress on jellyfin, especially the past year or so. i’ve been using plex since it forked from xbmc, it ran on the bottom half of a laptop connected to a mostly working projector, both rescued from a dumpster. it’s been a fantastic platform for a long time. but i’ve also wanted off plex since they rolled out the plex account req. jellyfin is finally there for me at least.
Oh lol, of course apple just calls it TV OS
https://github.com/jellyfin/Swiftfin is available for tvOS. works great for me with one bug. since i have homepods connected to one of my apple tv’s as it’s speakers. i had to change the setting to use the native video player instead of vlc to avoid and audio delay bug. that cost me the auto play next episode function. i though not auto playing the next episode would annoy me, but it’s turned out to not be a issue at all. but infuse doesn’t include that bug if you want both homepod tv speakers and auto play next episode with jellyfin. as for security, since jellyfin is more modifiable it has a lot more room for misconfiguration for sure. plex had plenty of it’s own security issues, we just only heard about them when some security blogger discovered it.
Welcome to the jelly. ONE OF US. ONE OF US.
i love jellyfin i just wish there was a nicer way to highlight collections so you could make themed weekly or monthly collections of movies and shows that also still show up in the regular folders… almost like netflix.
That is coming, I saw a PR for that. Just need to be patient.
I’m probably mistaken, but I think there might actually be a plugin for this? I haven’t looked into it myself but I swear I scrolled past a plugin listing similar functionality at some point. Or I could be hallucinating. Or it could even exist but no longer work on the current version of the app. Who knows!?
Long time Jellyfin user here, welcome on board. I think biggest hurdle I should newbies warn about is the lack of availability on TizenOS.
Its possible but needs some extra steps.
not OP, but this has reared its ugly face once or twice with my friends.
i have been running into another issue, though it may be a firefox issue: playing some filetypes fail to play on web browser but work fine on jellyfin app (i believe my settings are correct for hardware decode on server where it can)
i still have to put some time into figuring it out tho (havent really done my research yet)
oh! thank you! this is the answer :(
though… it kinda makes me want to buy a cheepie intel card just to get that sweet, sweet AV1
I’ve actually had the opposite issue where it runs fine on my web browser but does not play on my TV.
I’m also 90% done migrating to jellyfin. I’ve had the instance running for 6 months now, the cultural change to watch jellyfin is complete, except for my wife’s iPad.
Heck, I should just retire Plex. That will force the change.
These are the thoughts of a cold and calloused sysadmin. Didn’t get the email about the change? Too bad.
yeah it took me about 6 months with jellyfin to feel like i was ready to finally kill plex. the thing that finally did it was getting an email from plex asking if i’d like to check out whats streaming on hbomax.
What are you using to watch jellyfin on iOS?
In order of personal preference:
Maybe just try them all out and find the one that fits you best. You could also use more than one (which is what I do).
Maybe, Streamyfin? its the only iOS App with Downloads and Offline-Mode
Can also use the web client
i have a lifetime plex pass, but I’d consider moving to jellyfin when their closed-captioning support reaches parity with plex. i regularly spin up a jellyfin container to try it out, but i still run into issues. And jellyfin’s android apps are mediocre (in particular android auto support), especially for music compared to plexamp
For android auto, I use symfonium as it can hook into my jf library
This. I use symfonium for my audiobooks. Great app.
I find Jellyfin’s subtitle search much better than Plex’s. Bonus for leaving a subtitle file right along with your file, instead of buried somewhere else so you can’t easily edit it.
Get Bazarr so you never have to worry about subtitle searching again.
that’s about where i was at for a long while. manet finally replaced my apple carplay functionality from plexamp and plex lost it’s last advantage for me. i definitely got my moneys worth from that lifetime plexpass though.
my only issue is how user friendly it isn’t compared to Plex.
i genuinely want to leave Plex (especially the more and more they enshittify) but I just could not figure out how to set up jellyfin. i use Linux every day, and know I’m at least a tiny bit more tech smart than your average PC user, but I can’t imagine trying to explain to my family how to set jellyfin up.
Host Jellyfin either by running their easy setup script or by hosting it on docker, in order for it to be publicly accessible you will need to either port forward and give people your external IP or you need to have your own website. It’s very easy with a docker container to get it running locally, you literally just spin it up, the same as Plex.
Jellyfin us easy to run, but then when you are running it it just doesn’t have your files. Are they in the incorrect folder structure? Who knows
I literally just run Kodi and it just works, I can browse my folders and watch stuff
I use sonarr and radarr, they automatically structure the folder system, and you can also have the same issues with Plex. I had an issue where Plex would not no matter what detect the newest episode of a show and Jellyfin picked it up no problem
The only thing that plex has over jellyfin at the moment (in my opinion) is the simple sign on and user options that allow users to have their own usernames and not have to know anything about reverse-proxying a domain for jellyfin access. It’s that little bit of back-end that you have to set up that’s the problem for the ‘normie’ users that a lot of plex admins cater to. That, and there’s some holes in where the jellyfin app is available.
plex is still definitely easier to get started on. i don’t begrudge anyone still going that route, i had a lifetime plexpass the last 8yrs i think. jellyfin is a great option if you either already know how to set things up and want full control. Or you’re looking for an opportunity to learn more about reverse proxy, dns and authentication/access systems. plex is still i nice gateway drug.
And Plexamp.
And a decent AppleTV app.
There’s plugins that can replace Plexamp
So it does the Sonic adventure on mobile in a free app? And has offline storage? And has a station creator?
How did you set up Jellyfin with Authentik? Are you using SSO or is it only through LDAP?
i ended up doing both. ldap for the apps. oidc for web based users and the apps that support the quick connect feature. the local user account system works fine too, and ldap would be enough. i just wanted an excuse to play round with sso systems, and it was fun figuring out how to connect all my servers.
authenik has a good docs site for both it’s docker container and connecting it to jellyfin. Authelia looked interesting too.
Thanks! Don’t know how I missed the Authentik docs for this.
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Anyone have experience hosting a server for non-technical parents? Plex is just so plug and play and they have clients for even the shittiest old smart TVs.
Anything that has a remote interface is garbage. It’s all cursor mouse based except on a few devices.
It’s not as good as Plex by a long shot. If you have Plex pass no brainer. If not, I’d personally just buy the pass. On Xbox it was just unusable.
Honestly, the easiest thing to do is put it on a mesh VPN like Tailscale and connect their streaming device to your tailnet. If they’re non technical parents then if their TV OS doesn’t support Tailscale, you can pick up a Walmart brand ONN streaming box for <$50 which supports for Tailscale and Jellyfin.
Long ago I ran a Windows Media Center PC in the living room and used the hell out of it. When WMC finally went EOL, I look for alternatives and found Plex. I never got around to setting up a Plex box, and now I see it too is ready for the scrap heap. I think this is what getting old is. You plan on doing something and never get around to it. Time passes much faster up here in age.
Did plex do something again
Their last UI changes
And my god, it’s amazing how each UI iteration gets worse. How is that even possible? My shits never been so buried in menus.
Also, Plex email blasted a few weeks ago about how nobody can share their libraries anymore without paying for a subscription. That was the push I needed to check out Jellyfin again, and the experience ranges from “good enough” to “that’s better than Plex” for me and my buddies.
Yeah the jelly team did a good work and the product work well on what I have tested.